alaska dave
Member
I came across a cheaper method of anti-scale powder and wanted to see if anybody had tried this or knows if it is a bad idea (and why). So far it has worked with 1095 and 01
I use 20 Mule Team Borax as an anti-scale powder but not straight out of the box. The problem with normal borax is it has water in the powder. So you need to remove the moisture. Poor the borax on a tray and place it in the oven at 350 for thirty minutes or so to evaporate the water. The borax will now be in clumps, place it in container and pulverize it back to powder form. I use a wooden hammer handle and grind it slowly back to powder. Make sure and store the powder in a sealed container so it doesn't absorb moisture again. To apply the powder I preheat the blade to 500 F then sprinkle it on using a small mason jar with 1/64" holes punched in the lid like a salt shaker.
Compared to no treatment the level of scale is greatly reduced. After quenching in oil most scale just pops off with a light scrubbing before tempering. As it was explained to me the problem with Borax out of the box is the moisture content, the water cools the steal and creates a barrier to the adhesion of the borax. Try it, put regular borax on a hot blade and it will sizzle and steam, then try the dried out borax, no sizzle or steam.
I use 20 Mule Team Borax as an anti-scale powder but not straight out of the box. The problem with normal borax is it has water in the powder. So you need to remove the moisture. Poor the borax on a tray and place it in the oven at 350 for thirty minutes or so to evaporate the water. The borax will now be in clumps, place it in container and pulverize it back to powder form. I use a wooden hammer handle and grind it slowly back to powder. Make sure and store the powder in a sealed container so it doesn't absorb moisture again. To apply the powder I preheat the blade to 500 F then sprinkle it on using a small mason jar with 1/64" holes punched in the lid like a salt shaker.
Compared to no treatment the level of scale is greatly reduced. After quenching in oil most scale just pops off with a light scrubbing before tempering. As it was explained to me the problem with Borax out of the box is the moisture content, the water cools the steal and creates a barrier to the adhesion of the borax. Try it, put regular borax on a hot blade and it will sizzle and steam, then try the dried out borax, no sizzle or steam.